Alan Johnson not protected by a fair cop!

Alan Johnson's resignation was described as a personal affair. When I told my wife I thought he should have just said he wanted a change of job she said that it wouldn't be left there. "You know the press," she said, "they'll keep digging". They didn't need long to find out that his quitting the front bench was after his wife was alleged to have had an affair with his police bodyguard. That's a bit rich. The constable is now being quizzed.

I think it is now up to the police to envigorate their staff and remind them that undercover work or protection work is no excuse for philandering. I well remember watching a play by Jack Rosenthal about The Knowledge, when would-be taxi drivers had to ride around London memorising street names. One of the cabbies had a mistress. He told one young lad that, in his opinion, the knowledge was the "best thing in the whole history of how's your father!".

It seems such attitudes have pernmeated the police. Apart from the dwindling band of milkmen, policemen are the last lot likely to be tempted in such a way. We have only recently heard of such straying, but are there more?

Alan Johnson is liked by all sides of the House. He apparently is a great one to have at dinner parties. Baroness Warsi take note! He does not deserve to be cuckolded in such a way. I hope it all works out for him whilst he takes a step back from front line politics.

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/2011/01/21/alan-johnson-quits-as-shadow-chancellor-amid-claims-wife-had-affair-with-his-bodyguard-115875-22864296/#ixzz1BfHyxpAU
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Alan Johnson 'to quit frontline politics'

So he's going and not staying. He says he had "found it difficult" to cope with issues in his private life while shadow chancellor. Very strange? He didn't have such issues when in government. Why just as shadow chancellor? He leaves it all with an "I will make no further comment about this matter" approach.

Now he's just going to get more questions than answers. He'd have been far better off just saying that the brief was not really for him. Aren't we all looking for transparent answers? He wasn't a bad minister, he's a pretty good MP, articulate, etc. This just seems like a smokescreen. Even if it isn't, I don't think this "private life" line is what we need to hear about.

New Labour's healthy hypocrisy

New Labour is a political creed devoid of political fibre or philosophy. The only thing that holds it together is spin, subterfuge and a social climbing desire. Mostly it has an obnoxious self-righteousness about it.

David Cameron was recently lambasted by Alan Johnson because the Conservative leader dared to suggest that the NHS was being strangled by bureaucracy. Johnson sounded like a maiden aunt had been raped. He talks of 'deceit' and enters an arena for tittle-tattle and innuendo. Also, that sleazy minister Ben Bradshaw, the one who thinks Anglican prayers should have a decent element of buggery as a subject matter, came out all prissy about the Conservatives approach to health care.

Both these ministers are so wrapped up in big government that they can't see the little problems growing into much bigger ones. Now they've got a new report on their hands. The Care Quality Commission (another quango) has said that one in eight NHS trusts has been told it must urgently improve the care it provides. We're back to hygiene and safety again. Mike O'Brien, a health minister, blithely comments that the report states good things.

When it comes to the NHS this New Labour shower are a mixture of ostriches in a sand pit and Croesus on speed. Now there's a mind-boggling thought!

Ex-postman comes knocking on doors

This man is getting all excited about his new ID card. He's trying it on in Manchester. But why I cannot think. This time next year it will all be history.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said the government had signed contracts worth £1bn before last month's u-turn. "Alan Johnson today launches a wing-and-a-prayer scheme based on the hope that people across the North West will sign up for a glossy ID card, and send a message to their counterparts in other parts of the country that the ID card is the hottest property since Susan Boyle," said Mr Grayling. "The government has already wasted £200m that we cannot afford. The scheme will cost hundreds of million pounds more, even if the cards are voluntary. It is time this scheme was completely scrapped."

What is it with Gordon Brown's government and money? A fool and his money are soon parted, goes the saying. Well, a collection of fools and our money are definitely washed down the pan!

A well-coiled Miliband ready to spring

It seems Gordon Brown is doing his best to curry favour with the delegates at the Labour Party conference. After a summer of a little discontent, he is trying to re-establish his authority. Labour MPs are relatively cheered and Brown is getting a "bounce" in the opinion polls. Apparently some members of the British public think he is handling this present financial crisis well. Well enough to know spivs when he sees them. My only complaint on this subject is that he isn't doing much to contain them. OK, the short selling system has been defused, but the guys involved in all this are really Del Boys with computers. I know it sounds a bit snobby, but one of the problems with the Thatcher years was letting those that were used to market stall trading move into the computerised world of banking unchecked.

So Brown gets a little bit of peace coming his way. Doesn't stop those seeking to replace him from moving the chairs in the Cabinet Room. David Miliband is seen as an obvious choice by the media. But I think he will not have voter appeal at this time. However, he will be a contender, and he is like a jack-in-the-box currently. My hunch is that Alan Johnson will come through. He is a man who can sup with all kinds and still seem like one of them. He would give Labour back its working class inheritance whilst giving it the veneer of New Labour modernisation. But, unlike Miliband, is he ready to spring?